Braintree High Students win national anti-drug award a second time

Tuesday

The school's chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions won its second consecutive National Red Ribbon Week Photo contest.

BRAINTREE – For the second consecutive year, a group of Braintree High School students has received a national award for its anti-drug efforts.

The school’s chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions won the National Red Ribbon Week Photo Contest sponsored by the National Family Partnership and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration,

Michael Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England division, presented the $1,000 prize to Kelly Fox, the group’s faculty adviser, at the school committee meeting Monday night. More than 30 members of the local SADD chapter crowded into the meeting room for the presentation.

This year’s photo showed members of the group dressed in black and gathered in the school’s lobby. The students surrounded a poster bearing the theme of the contest: “Your future is key, so stay drug-free.”

The students displayed the posters around the school in October during National Red Ribbon Week, which promotes making a commitment to living a healthy and drug-free lifestyle.

Ferguson noted that only 10 schools from across the country are selected for the award.

He said the opioid crisis, which claims the lives of six Massachusetts residents each day, is the worst public safety and public health crisis he has seen in his 28 years with the federal agency.

“You provide a great role model for Braintree High School and the entire town,” Ferguson said. “It is so important to prevent that first illicit use.”

The students were also congratulated by Mayor Joseph Sullivan and School Superintendent Frank Hackett.

Sullivan urged the students to “continue your good work, because you are making a positive difference.”

Hackett told the students, “We’re proud of what you have done.”

The school won the award last year for a photo of the group forming a red ribbon on the 50-yard-line of the school’s football field.

The prize money will be used in the school’s efforts to prevent drug use.

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